2018 pre-season testing thread

[f1316]

You see that 1m22.952s on mediums from Bottas is already fairly impressive - so no doubt the Mercedes is working well.

Consider that fastest medium tyre time last year was 1:21.609 and it looks very good. We should bear in mind a couple of caveats to that though:
- this year's medium is last year's soft (fastest time for that tyre last year was 1:19.267)
- the track changes to get rid of bumps is said to be worth up to a second

Still, it's these kinds of indications that, to me, gives a sense of whether teams are looking generally strong (and, no surprise, Mercedes are). Not to mention the fact that he's out there straight away putting the laps in.

[EarlRue71]

Does anyone know of a website that will be streaming the tests at Barcelona?

Here's a livestream...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGt2U1Twr20

[Gerhardsa]

And Alonso bins it...lost a wheel.

[bauc]

Yeah he lost the car in the last corner and smashed it

[Gerhardsa]

Not what that team would have wanted.

[HPD]

[media]https://twitter.com/AlbertFabrega/statu ... 0680393728[/media]

[cliffgamerz]

Yeah he lost the car in the last corner and smashed it

Yes the wheel seems to have come off

https://twitter.com/AlbertFabrega/statu ... st-in-2018

[bauc]

Not what that team would have wanted.

yes, but they are accustomed to changing parts like crazy, still the morning session is lost, maybe the day depending of the damage.

Edit

Alonso had set a purple first sector before that minor mishap. He'd completed five laps.

[Vladimir]

McLaren lost one of the wheel.

[Gerhardsa]

Wonder if it came loose/off before or after he lost the car

EDIT: Seems like the lost wheel was the cause of the accident. doesn't look like he binned it after all.
Might not be such a massive repair job.

[ollandos]

Alonso was on a purple lap before the incident. He literally drove the wheels off the car.

The MCL33 can't be that fast, right...?




fix the car quickly ....dam

[Restomaniac]

By all accounts it was a purple lap too.

That would hint and really good pace.

[Thunder]

Seems like he literally just lost the Wheel:

[Jef Patat]

Did he crash it or just lost the wheel and end up in the gravel?

[cliffgamerz]

Might be something to do with new suspension layout maybe